GQ Picks Nations Best Pizza

from GQ
The Nation's Best Pizza

GQ critic Alan Richman chose the mortadella pie at Chicago's Great Lake as the best in America. Click through the slide show to see some of his favorites listed in the June 2009 issue of GQ.


Click here to read Richman's full article from the June 2009 issue of GQ.

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Great Lake

"[Nick Lessins's] cheese pie, prepared with fresh mozzarella made in-house, grated Wisconsin sheep's-and-cow's-milk cheese, and aromatic fresh marjoram instead of basil, was slightly shy of unbelievable," Richman says. "The next day I returned to try the same pie topped with fresh garlic and mortadella, the dirigible-sized Italian sausage that looks like bologna, tastes like salami, and is usually cut into chunks. He sliced the meat very thin and laid slices of it over the pie the moment it came out of the oven. The mortadella, with its combination of burliness and creaminess, was a meaty addition to the earthy, bready crust. This pie-creative, original, and somewhat local-represents everything irresistible about the new American style of pizza-making."

1477 West Balmoral Ave., Chicago, Ill.; 773-334-9270


Click here to read Richman's full article from the June 2009 issue of GQ.

Ditte Isager/GQ

Runner Up

Lucali in Brooklyn, N.Y., was tapped for its "plain pie." "I picked the simplest of [pizzamaker Mark Iacono's] creations, in essence a Margherita, although there's no menu and none of the pies have names," Richman writes. "It has tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil, buffalo mozzarella and a sprinkling of grated Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, enormously satisfying for a pie so simple. The crust stands firm. The mozzarella melts exquisitely. The basil is wildly fresh."

575 Henry St., Brooklyn, N.Y.; 718-858-4086


Click here to read Richman's full article from the June 2009 issue of GQ.

Ditte Isager/GQ

Lucali

"Should you need additional toppings, go for thinly shaved porcini mushrooms, so good I was tempted to put a second Lucali pie on my list," Richman writes of the the plain pie.


Click here to read Richman's full article from the June 2009 issue of GQ.

Ditte Isager/GQ

Bob & Timmy's spinach and mushroom pie

"The menu is vast, but I stuck to simple variations, and every one was expertly prepared. The pies came in standard grilled-pizza format, irregularly round but cut into squares. The crust appeared too skinny to be interesting, but it seemed about the best flatbread I'd ever eaten," Richman writes of his No. 5 pick. "The vegetable toppings were remarkably fresh, and it occurred to me that freshness is something we rarely think about when contemplating what pizza we admire. The pie I loved most had three cheeses, the dominant one being feta, which adds tang and saltiness. Now I understand what every Greek must already know: Feta, spinach, and mushrooms are an astonishingly compatible combination."

32 Spruce St., Providence, R.I.; 401-453-2221

Click here to read Richman's full article from the June 2009 issue of GQ.

Ditte Isager/GQ

Sally's Apizza

Despite dismal service and a filthy men's room Richman found the pizza at Sally's Apizza in New Haven, Conn., to be worthy of No. 6. "Out of this agonizing ambience appeared a pie of incredible finesse, a tour de force, a white (no tomato sauce) pizza prepared with thinly sliced potatoes cooked to an artful golden brown, a scattering of equally faultless onions, and a masterful touch of rosemary, all perfectly complemented by Sally's crust, a bit denser, chewier, and thinner than the one up the block at the equally fabled Pepe's."


237 Wooster St., New Haven, Conn.; 203-624-527

Click here to read Richman's full article from the June 2009 issue of GQ.

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Tomato Pie

L.A.'s Tomato Pie found its way to No. 7 on the GQ list thanks to its Grandma pizza. "I bit into a slice of the Grandma -- a traditional and gorgeously assembled pizza with crushed tomatoes, fresh garlic, and a scattering of mozzarella, basil, oregano, and Pecorino Romano -- I'm a sucker for Romano cheese. My friend and I simultaneously looked up and said, "This is great." Indeed it was, the ingredients fresher than most, the crust unusually soft and tender, with a crisp bottom and a fluffy, nutty center."

2457 Hyperion Ave., Los Angeles; 323-661-6474

Click here to read Richman's full article from the June 2009 issue of GQ.

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Tacconelli's

Philly made it on the pizza list at No. 9 with Tacconelli's white pie."I suggest ordering too much, because every pizza here is wonderful, the crust from the huge, oil-burning oven an example of how tremendously satisfying an amalgam of thin, chewy, and crunchy can be. I loved the white pie, so much better than the sum of its packaged parts: ordinary part-skim mozzarella, granulated garlic, salt and pepper. In essence, it's the ultimate expression of cheese on bread."

2604 E. Somerset St., Philadelphia; 215-425-4983

Click here to read Richman's full list from the June 2009 issue of GQ.

Ditte Isager/GQ